Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: George Tablack
Department: Finance and Administrative Services Division: Purchasing
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO APPROVE final ranking of the qualified firms for Request for Proposals (RFP) No. TEC2125292P1, BARD Electronic Health Records Solution for the Broward Addiction Recovery Division. The ranked firms are: 1 - Cantata Health Solutions, LLC; 2 - Netsmart Technologies, Inc.; 3 - Altera Digital Health, Inc.; 4 - NextGen Healthcare, Inc.; and 5 - Kipu Systems, LLC.
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Why Action is Necessary
In accordance with Broward County Procurement Code Section 21.42(j), Procedures for RFPs, RLIs, and RFQs, if an objection or protest has been filed with respect to an Evaluation Committee’s ranking, the ranking must be submitted to the Board for final approval. The Board, by majority vote, may (1) accept the ranking as final; (2) reject all responses to the solicitation; or (3) direct the Evaluation Committee to reconvene to consider any new or additional information the Board directs the Evaluation Committee to consider. In addition, the Board may request presentations by the ranked vendors and may, by supermajority vote, re-rank those vendors in a final ranking.
What Action Accomplishes
Approves the Evaluation Committee’s recommendation of the final ranking of qualified firms.
Goal Related Icon(s)
☐County Commission
☐Go Green
☐MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
None.
Summary Explanation/Background
THE PURCHASING DIVISION AND BROWARD ADDICTION AND RECOVERY CENTER DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTION.
The Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD) determined that no County Business Enterprise (CBE) participation goal should apply to this solicitation based on their review of the products and services requested and availability of CBE firms to perform the services.
Section 1-81.3(a) of the Code of Ordinances provides for the setting of a CBE goal of at least 25% unless the Board of County Commissioners or County Administrator (under limited circumstances) approves a different goal, or no goal based upon a written determination by the Director of the Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD). The Board’s approval of this item will result in no CBE goal being set for the applicable agreement consistent with the written determination provided by the Director of OESBD (Exhibit 2).
The purpose of this solicitation is to engage a qualified firm to provide an industry leading Electronic Health Records Solution that steers processes, services, and operations in a manner that enhances quality and efficiency, rather than replicating current processes. The goal is to acquire a solution which promotes industry standard best practices to support contract critical business functions, including administration, clinical treatment, case management, assessments, care plans, client portal and billing support of case management, outpatient, residential and detox programs.
The RFP was advertised on March 8, 2024 and, at the time of the submittal deadline on April 18, 2024, ten vendors submitted responses: Accumedic Computer Systems, Inc. (Accumedic); Altera Digital Health, Inc. (Altera); Cantata Health Solutions, LLC (Cantata); Data Systems Integration Group, Inc. (Data Systems); E*HealthLine.com, Inc. (E*HealthLine); Integrated Software Solutions, Corp. (Integrated Software); Kipu Systems, LLC (Kipu); Motion Reboot, LLC d/b/a Doctors In Tech (Motion Reboot); Netsmart Technologies, Inc. (Netsmart); and NextGen Healthcare, Inc. (NextGen).
On July 23, 2024, an Initial Evaluation Committee (EC) meeting was held. The EC determined Altera, Cantata, Kipu, Netsmart, and NextGen as responsive and responsible to the solicitation requirements.
Accumedic, was non-compliant with the Authority to Conduct Business in the State of Florida, and the Insurance requirements of the solicitation and deemed nonresponsible by the EC.
Data Systems, was non-compliant with the SOC2 Type II or HITRUST i1 report requirements of the solicitation and deemed nonresponsible by the EC.
E*HealthLine, was non-compliant with the Authority to Conduct Business in the State of Florida requirement and deemed nonresponsible by the EC.
Integrated Software, was non-compliant with the Insurance requirements and SOC2 Type II or HITRUST i1 report requirements of the solicitation and deemed nonresponsible by the EC.
Motion Reboot, was non-compliant with the Insurance requirements, ETS Vendor Security Questionnaire, Functionality Checklist, SOC2 Type II or HITRUST i1 report, and Hourly Rates requirements of the solicitation and deemed nonresponsible by the EC.
In accordance with the Broward County Procurement Code, Section 21.42(c), the EC may (1) shortlist vendors and then score or rank only the shortlisted vendors; or (2) score and/or rank all responses. During the Initial Evaluation Committee meeting, the EC elected to not shortlist, as the recommendation from the Purchasing Director was to shortlist no less than five vendors and five vendors remained for final evaluation.
On July 30, 2024, a demonstration meeting was held. Five firms demonstrated their proposed solution to the County: Altera, Cantata, Kipu, Netsmart, and NextGen.
On August 14, 2024, a Final EC meeting was held. After presentations, evaluation, scoring, and ranking, the EC named Cantata as the first ranked firm (Score 253); Netsmart (Score: 211.81) as the second ranked firm; Altera (Score: 202.42) as the third-ranked firm; NextGen (Score: 179.18) as the fourth-ranked firm; and Kipu (Score: 167.10) as the fifth-ranked firm (Exhibit 1).
The EC’s proposed recommendation of ranking was posted on the Purchasing Division website from August 19, 2024 - August 22, 2024, which provided an opportunity for any proposer or interested party to present any new or additional information regarding the responsibility of the proposers.
On August 21, 2024, the Director of Purchasing received a timely written objection from Netsmart objecting to the ranking. The objection letter contained six assertions: 1) Only 18 of the 37 items in the functionality checklist were presented at demonstration; 2) The limited agenda and time constraints of the 30-minute vendor demonstration conducted on July 30, 2024; 3) Certain functionality items included in the BARD RFP requirements were not included in the demonstration agenda; 4) Netsmart being asked about eMAR; 5) Netsmart being asked about Incident Tracking; and 6) The information provided by the top scoring vendor (Cantata) allegedly not complying with the requirement of the RFP for vendor references (Exhibit 3).
On September 6, 2024, the Director of Purchasing issued a response to Netsmart’s objection assertions stating that, after review of the procurement records and proceedings of the EC, and in consultation with the Office of the County Attorney, the issues raised in the objection were not of sufficient merit to recall or otherwise alter the recommendation of the EC. The evaluation of firms was conducted appropriately and within established requirements, guidelines, practices, and procedures set forth in the Broward County Procurement Code, County Ordinances, and existing written guidelines of the Purchasing Division. As such, the objection was denied (Exhibit 4).
The EC final recommendation of ranking was posted on the Purchasing Division website from September 9-13, 2024, which provided an opportunity for any aggrieved proposer to file a formal protest. No formal protest was received.
Additional supporting documentation provided to the EC for this procurement can be found on the Purchasing Division website at: http://www.broward.org/Purchasing/Pages/Repository.aspx
Source of Additional Information
Robert E. Gleason, Director, Purchasing Division, (954) 357-6070
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal Impact/Cost Summary
There is no fiscal impact.